Capitol Hill Workers Owe Millions in Back Taxes to IRS

More than 600 Capitol Hill workers had run up a tab of $9.3 million in overdue taxes by year’s end 2009, according to an analysis reported in The Washington Post. That’s a million-dollar increase over the previous year, the Post story notes, although it’s a speck compared with the $1 billion in overdue taxes that federal workers nationwide owe.

The information, which the Post gleaned from IRS data, tallies 638 Hill workers owe money and sets the average unpaid bill at $12,787 for those who work in the Senate and $15,498 for those in arrears in the House.

The Post, which published charts of unpaid bills by department but not by name, noted that the situation could have political implications for members of Congress. The reason: Some Republicans want to fire government workers who are behind in paying the IRS, and President Barack Obama has been pressing to crack down on delinquent government contractors.

In addition to the Capitol Hill figures, the Post story notes that 41 people working for the Executive Office of the President owed a total of $831,000, a tally similar to the tab during President George W. Bush’s last year.